When I was a toddler fresh out of graduate school, I went on to complete a professional development program in Applied Behavorial Science at National Training Labs Institute in Bethel, Maine. There I met a remarkable man who became my mentor and a dear friend. Sherman Kingsbury, PhD, gifted me with study experience as an observer of several top corporate product analysis focus groups. These groups were comprised of a very carefully selected set of people whose task it was to try a product, then, through a process of guided group discussion, generate information useful to the maker. As I reflected on my experience, it seemed to me that the people present at yesterday’s B’nai Sholom Reform Congregation’s Second Annual ChiliPalooza contest represented what might be considered a heterogeneous super-group.

The “product” was chili. Fourteen different, independent samples, which included many meat and several vegetarian/vegan crockpots, all warm and steaming. Those present had free choice (then voted democratically in two rounds) for three top prize winners. The group was a cross section of 50 or more people who might legitimately be viewed as a corporate “dream team.” Photographs show they ranged from beautiful, pacifier-sucking darlings to wizened seniors. It was more or less gender balanced. The cool part? As a society of Americans, it included a rabbi, PhDs, professors, a judge, doctors, lawyers, students (grade school, high school, college, grad school), professionals, housewives, house husbands, retirees, blue and white collar folks and many with proven skills as family cooks, and others whose cooking skills reach a professional level. It was before this monster group that those of us who entered the competition cast our fate.

A wonderful time was had by all. Far more fun than the serious corporate focus groups. For the winning recipe, and photos of just how delicious the event was, check out http://www.bnaisholom.albany.us/news.

]]>By: enoughalready!http://blog.timesunion.com/tablehopping/27609/albany-temple-brings-back-chili-event/comment-page-1/#comment-499427
Wed, 28 Dec 2011 01:12:25 +0000http://blog.timesunion.com/tablehopping/?p=27609#comment-499427Rabbi Don – “funny, your name doesn’t sound Jewish!”. Great nom de plume.
Also agree – IMO Sephardic Cuisine is much more interesting as well as
Healthier.
]]>By: Rabbi Don Capsaicinhttp://blog.timesunion.com/tablehopping/27609/albany-temple-brings-back-chili-event/comment-page-1/#comment-499318
Tue, 27 Dec 2011 20:51:40 +0000http://blog.timesunion.com/tablehopping/?p=27609#comment-499318Thanks, all, for your interest in our event, especially to Mr. Fussy for vouching for me. We don’t pretend chili is Jewish in origin, we just like it! And we like to eat!

My own culinary inclinations are not with my central and eastern European forebears, but rather towards the Sephardic Diaspora (North Africa), Yemen, and Mizrahi tastes. See for example, my contribution here: archives.timesunion.com/mweb/wmsql.wm.request?oneimage&imageid=6428972 . So Josho – see the cumin, coriander, cilantro and habenero powder? *Homegrown* habenero powder?

I disagree. Unlike the vast majority of dishes, chili has an identity that is extremely fiercely defended and debated. For a great many people, just the presence of beans disqualifies a dish from carrying the name “chili.” Every dish has roots. Just because other people may take those roots and change them and redefine them for their own purposes doesn’t make it the same dish or deserving of the same name.

I grew up in a Jewish household, and my Jewish forebearers were Russian, Polish, and German. I have thousands of cookbooks, a whole lot of them Jewish, and chili appears in none of the Jewish cookbooks. Nor does anything that remotely resembles chili in flavor profile.

You make a generalized claim that NO dish has any particular cultural identity because EVERY dish can be interpreted in many ways. But that’s willfully ignoring the fact that *dishes have origins,* and you cannot deny or co-opt those origins even if you make the dish a million different ways. Chili is not considered a Jewish dish any more than Haggis is considered a Spanish dish, or Fish ‘n Chips is considered a Muslim dish.

]]>By: bhttp://blog.timesunion.com/tablehopping/27609/albany-temple-brings-back-chili-event/comment-page-1/#comment-492598
Wed, 21 Dec 2011 00:42:26 +0000http://blog.timesunion.com/tablehopping/?p=27609#comment-492598Like any food food Chili can be interpreted in many different ways so when people say it’s not a Jewish food that’s an inaccurate assessment.
]]>By: shelby's kitchenhttp://blog.timesunion.com/tablehopping/27609/albany-temple-brings-back-chili-event/comment-page-1/#comment-492589
Wed, 21 Dec 2011 00:33:18 +0000http://blog.timesunion.com/tablehopping/?p=27609#comment-492589I’m very excited to attend this event!! We’re planning a chili cook off in Schroon Lake in February and would like to extend an invitation for everyone to come to that event as well. All of the details can be found on our website at http://www.schroonlakechilicookoff.org.
]]>By: Joshohttp://blog.timesunion.com/tablehopping/27609/albany-temple-brings-back-chili-event/comment-page-1/#comment-492406
Tue, 20 Dec 2011 19:30:58 +0000http://blog.timesunion.com/tablehopping/?p=27609#comment-492406Sandor, point very well taken! It seems that the only Jewish cookbooks I’ve ever collected, and the only Jewish food I’ve been exposed to or studied, are Ashkenazic. I need to look into that and round out my cookbook collection. For whatever reason, I think I’ve always equated Ashkenazic cooking with Jewish cooking, period.

And, as llcwine points out, I guess you can extend that thought to Cincinnati and Texas, too. No doubt there are whole enclaves of Jews there that can cook very authentic chili.

]]>By: Yanahttp://blog.timesunion.com/tablehopping/27609/albany-temple-brings-back-chili-event/comment-page-1/#comment-492317
Tue, 20 Dec 2011 17:18:09 +0000http://blog.timesunion.com/tablehopping/?p=27609#comment-492317So true, Sandor! Add southeast Asia to the list. Karavalli has 2 or 3 Jewish dishes on the menu. All three are spicy and very tasty! Diaspora has taken us everywhere, but I would think that the temple hosting the event is most certainly Ashkenazi (e.g, pepper and paprika would be the “hottest” spices in the traditional cooking).
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